Influenced
by Cherisa Phantom
Summary: Harry and Ron have now found Hermione after their search, but she's not herself. SHe just did an unforgivable curse on H & R. WHat will Dumbledore do? Chapter 7 up! No slashes (i promise!)
1. Ch1 Family Life

Influenced.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or anyone else who coincidentally appears in this story, but I really wish I owned Snape, I bet he's only putting on an act, and is really lovely inside.  
  
Chapter 1: Family Life  
  
Now in his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter was getting tired of his regular meetings with Voldemort, the most evil wizard who had ever set foot on this Earth. At this moment though, he was 'safe' at his aunt and uncles house; well, as safe as you can be with Uncle Vernon prowling round and Aunt Petunia nosily peering accusingly at her neighbours.  
  
Harry had only a couple of days until he could travel back to school on the Hogwarts express, and be truly 'home'. But, one thing was bothering him, he had just woken up from one of the strangest dreams he had ever had. His scar was not burning, and he couldn't be totally sure whether Voldemort was there or not, but he was quite sure there was someone evil around.  
  
But like all dreams, once again, the facts were fading away. As much as the dream made him curious, he was not going to worry about a little nightmare. He was fifteen years old! Harry decided that Sirius and Dumbledore were probably too busy to listen to the problems of a teenager...  
  
On the bedside table, the alarm clock told him that it was almost breakfast time, so he pulled on some clothes and made his way down the kitchen, where Dudley was eagerly awaiting bacon and eggs. His cousin's diet had failed. Harry could honestly say he was not surprised, as Dudley was no longer the size of a young killer whale, but an adult one.  
  
"What happened to your diet?" Harry asked, unable to keep a straight face, as he watched Dudley fishing for a quick and witty answer.  
  
"Dad says I'm a growing boy, and I don't need rabbit food. I don't want to end up looking like you. Right Dad?" He sneered through his tiny piggy eyes.  
  
"Right." Roared Vernon.  
  
"Aww, that's my little Diddums!" Said Petunia, shovelling several portions of bacon on Dudley's plate, and selecting the smallest slither for Harry.  
  
Harry, deciding that he didn't want to hear anymore of Petunias flowery talk, gulped down his pitiful breakfast and made his way back up to his room.  
The dream, however, was not the only worry of Harry's at the moment. It had been his birthday several days before, and he had received a card, present and a cake from each Hagrid and Ron, and a card from Sirius, but nothing from Hermione. Thinking about this, he didn't even notice Hedwig fly down from the window with a note attached to her leg. He tore it off, thinking it was something from Hermione, and Hedwig flew off in a huff, obviously mad at his lack of attention. Nevertheless, he recognised Rons untidy lettering and reluctantly read the message.  
  
Dear Harry,  
I wondered if you would like to come with us to Diagon Alley on Tuesday to shop for our new school equipment. I have tried to contact Hermione (I even tried to use the feletone!)  
  
'Hmph, thought Harry, will he ever get it right?'  
  
But so far there has been no reply. Have you been in contact with her? I hope she is all right. Well, if the muggles let you, can I arrive around twelve?Write soon, Ron.  
  
Getting a quill and ink, Harry hurriedly wrote a quick note;  
  
Ron, I haven't heard anything from Hermione either. Maybe we should try phoning again? She probably is all right. I'll meet you at twelve. See you then. Harry. 


	2. Ch2 Meeting

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter or the characters in this story, JK Rowling does. Talk to her.  
  
Chapter 2: Meeting  
  
On Tuesday morning, Harry had little time to worry about where Hermione might be, as he was too worried about how the Weasleys might arrive. He knew there was no way they were going to arrive by car, as the Whomping Willow destroyed the only car they had in Harry's second year. They probably would arrive by floo powder, but that's what Harry was anxious about. The Dursleys disapproved of anything magical in their lives, and their last meeting with the Weasleys wasn't exactly a pleasant event.  
  
At twelve, Harry was surprised when they heard a knock on the door. In came Mr. Weasley, Ron, Fred, George and Ginny. Dudley was still snivelling behind Aunt Petunia, who had a look of pure terror on her face, and Vernon just looked extremely annoyed.  
  
Mr Weasley tried desperately to make a conversation;  
  
"Hello again Mr. and Mrs Dursley." He approached them with a hand outstretched, obviously expecting them to shake it. Seeing them back away, he finished his sentence. "Er, well, we'll be off as soon as Harry gets his case." He smiled weakly.  
  
"We'll get it, Dad!" Said Fred and George simultaneously, rushing upstairs to Harry's bedroom, sniggering at Dudley as they passed.  
  
Once everyone was packed into the extremely spacious (and probably a company car. Harry thought it rude to ask) car, Ron and Harry had a conversation in low whispers.  
  
"So, where do you think Hermione is?" Ron hissed.  
  
"I have no idea. I wouldn't know what to do if we didn't see her on the train"  
  
"But she will be on the train...won't she?" Rons eyes grew wide.  
  
"Of course she will!" Harry was reassuring himself more than anyone else.  
  
"Yes! She will!" Ron chorused.  
  
"Yes! Surely!" Harry was almost screaming.  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"YES!"  
  
By now the entire contents of the Weasleys car was now staring at them both, each one with their mouths half open with a very curious look on their face.  
  
"Er-hm." Harry cleared his throat and laughed feebly. Ron was quite literally twiddling his thumbs and staring at his feet. By now they had reached London, and only had the smallest fragment of time to wait until they reached Diagon Alley.  
  
Once there, Harry and Ron went first to the ice cream parlour, and then to the bookshop.  
  
"If Hermione is anywhere, it will be in here." Ron stated, looking cautiously at the Monster book of Monsters, and staring pitifully at the shop assistant reaching into the cage with dragon hide gloves and a look of terror on his face.  
  
Harry, on the other hand, was walking gingerly around the shelves, looking for his friend. Suprisingly, Hermione wasn't there.  
  
"I can't find her anywhere." He reported back to Ron.  
  
"Me neither. I guess if we don't see her on the Hogwarts Express, then we should start panicking." Ron replyed.  
  
After they had finished shopping, the Weasleys and Harry trooped back to the car. "Ginny," asked Harry, "Do you know anything about what's happened to Hermione?" Ginny, who always dropped her books or stuttered when Harry talked to her, just looked casual. Maybe she had gotten over the fact that she was sitting next to a celebrity.  
  
"No. I'm getting really worried. She usually sends me an owl or something." Ginny was now biting her bottom lip, and the rest of the journey to the Burrow was almost in silence. 


	3. Ch3 The Message

Disclaimer: Do you really think the disclaimer would have changed since the last chapter? Jeeeez.  
  
Influenced.  
  
Chapter 3: The Message  
  
At The Burrow, Mrs Weasley greeted Harry with a hug that almost choked him. "Harry, dear! How have you been? I have been so worried about you and Hermione! How have the muggles been treating you?"  
  
She finally let Harry out of her grasp where he explained that the holidays had been fine.  
  
Fred and George came over to Harry. "Harry," started Fred, "Me and George never got the chance to express our gratitude. We came with you to Diagon Alley so we could say this, because obviously we don't need any school stuff, but we never got the chance, so..."  
  
George got something out of his pocket. It looked like a bunch of normal quills, but George explained.  
  
"This was one of the first things we created. These are the only ones in existence. Before you get any homework, you place one of these on the teachers desk, and the ink contains Forgetful Fumes." Laughed George.  
  
"Wow...thanks..." said Harry, unconvinced.  
  
"But Harry, don't you see what this means? The professor forgets everything that happened during the last half an hour, so you don't get any homework, and you can usually leave the lesson early. During the lesson you can do ANYTHING YOU WANT. They won't remember a thing!"  
  
Harry was deeply impressed by the quills by now, with just the thought of Professor Snape, the Potions master not knowing where he was, and the idea of never getting potions homework again.  
  
Harry had lunch as soon as he stepped in the house (scrambled egg with wild mushrooms). He always thoroughly enjoyed his time at the Burrow, but this time seemed strange without Hermione, and Ginny had no one to talk to. Over lunch, everyone was discussing where Hermione might be.  
  
"Well, I'm sure she's fine wherever she is." Exclaimed Mrs Weasley.  
  
"Yes," Said Mr. Weasley. "She'd send us an owl if anything had gone wrong."  
  
"But Mum, what if- " started Ginny, but Mrs Weasley interrupted her.  
  
"Now Ginny, there will no what-if 's in my house. Hermione is fine. Now finish your dinner." She said sternly.  
  
After lunch, Harry helped to de-gnome the garden. He swang the stout little gnome above his head and flung it over the hedge.  
  
"Good throw Harry," Said George, throwing it at least seven foot further.  
  
"So how's Percy getting on with his job?" Asked Harry. He hadn't seen much of Percy, except a brief encounter with him at lunch, where he gulped down his food and ran back upstairs.  
  
"Oh yes, Weatherby's doing brilliantly." Teased Fred. "He even got to do a report on wand colour last week. He even reckons THAT was a promotion." Harry laughed and picked up another gnome.  
  
After a quick game of Quidditch behind the trees over on the field near Rons house, it was soon time for dinner. They ate in the garden. Harry remembered the last time he did this when Ron's brothers, Bill and Charlie were playing with the table in the air. During dinner, Ginny was unusually quiet, but it was probably as she was worried about Hermione. Mrs Weasley was telling Fred and George about the state of their hair, and Mr. Weasley and Percy were discussing something to do with the ministry.  
  
On their way back up to Rons room, Harry, Fred, George, Ginny and Ron were conversing about 'The Chudley Cannons', the Weasleys favourite Quidditch team. Ron had just opened his door, Ginny let out a shriek. Everyone looked around, and there, sitting on Rons bed, was Crookshanks.  
  
The big ginger cat had a note in its mouth. Ron snatched it, and everyone crowded around to see it. The writing had trailed off at the end, as something had suddenly stopped the person from carrying on. The words were untidy, as it had been written very quickly, but it was unmistakably Hermione's writing. It read:  
  
Harry, Ron; Help 


	4. Ch4 Appearances can deceive

Diclaimer: I Don't own any characters in this story. They all belong to JK Rowling.  
  
Influenced  
  
Chapter 4  
  
"Harry, Ron; Help." Read Harry.  
  
"It's definitely Hermione's writing..." Started Ron, but stopped at the sudden thought of why she had actually sent the note in the first place.  
  
"Mum...Dad! Quick" Fred yelled down the stairs. Mr. and Mrs Weasley appeared almost at once, and gaped at the note.  
  
"What do we do...?" Said Ginny, in a small squeak. Harry noticed that she had tears in her eyes.  
  
"Don't worry dear," Said Mrs Weasley, nervously. "I'm sure Hermione is...fine..." But Harry saw the quick worried glance she gave Arthur, and realised it was not fine, not fine at all.  
  
Harry decided that Mr. Weasley, Ron and himself should drive to a town to use the pay phone to call Hermione's house. Not Diagon Alley, but a muggle town, for they do not have telephones in the wizarding world.  
  
After a long drive, they arrived in a small muggle town. Harry found a payphone and dialled the number Hermione had given him just before the end of school. There was no answer. The phone just rang and rang. Harry looked anxiously around.  
  
"No answer" He explained. "Maybe.... maybe her parents are working, and she's....she's...." He couldn't think of an excuse.  
  
"Should we send a letter to Dumbledore?" Asked Ron.  
  
"No. I think Harry might be right. There probably is a reasonable explanation for all of this. We shan't bother Dumbledore. If you don't see her on the train, then I think we should begin to take action." Said Mr. Weasley.  
  
They drove back to the Burrow, with heavy hearts, and explained their misfortune of still not being able to contact her. Tensions were running high, as everyone considered the possibilities of what had happened to Hermione.  
  
A few days later, Harry, Ron, and Ginny had their bags packed and made their way to London. Harry would have usually been pleased about going to school, but today was not an ordinary day, as there were only three people getting the train.  
  
As usual, they ran through the barrier and reached the other side of the wall, and saw the enormous Hogwarts steam train just waiting to take them to the castle, which Harry so oftenly referred to as 'home'.  
  
They got in a carriage and sat down. The Weasleys were waving frantically, but Harry was not concentrating on this. He was looking for Hermione. He couldn't sit in his place. He got up and walked in and out of carriages. When he had gone five or six carriages down, he came to his enemy's, Draco Malfoys, carriage.  
  
"Lost something, Potter?" He said. Crabbe and Goyle laughed foolishly.  
  
"Get lost, Malfoy." He said, and turned towards the door.  
  
"It wouldn't be your friend Weasel would it?" He sneered and got up. Harry didn't reply, but chose to ignore it.  
  
"Or have you lost that filthy mudblood of yours? Granger?"  
  
Harry could not take this. He turned around and tried out a spell he had once seen Ron attempt.  
  
"Eat slugs Malfoy!"  
  
The flash of blinding light flew out his wand and hit Malfoy straight in the chest. He fell backwards on to the carpet of the carriage, spluttering. His stomach lurched and cheeks swelled. Out of his mouth came the most enormous slug, a horrible greeny-brown colour. Soon, out came another, and another. Harry smirked, just as Ron and Ginny appeared beside him and laughed. Malfoy had a look of pure fury on his face. Just as they were about to turn and leave, a voice came from behind them.  
  
"You shouldn't do that, Harry Potter. The spell could backfire...onto you..."  
  
Hermione was standing there. She had said this in a voice unlike hers, in fact, the more Harry thought about it, she sounded a bit like Professor Snape would, when he set his eyes upon Harry, slowly and deadly.She had called him Harry Potter, which was unusual. She had a look of blankness on her face, and if she studied the scene wearily. Ron forced himself to say,  
  
"Hermione....where..."  
  
But Hermione wasn't listening. She didn't look like she was faintly interested at all. 


	5. Ch5 Strange Reactions

Disclaimer: Sorry, this disclaimer is for the last chapter too. Funny how things slip your mind when you're having fun! So, JK Rowling, please don't sue, I prefer to think of this as 'borrowing'...Oh yeah, and sorry about the length of the chapter, sweet and simple I might say.  
  
Influenced Chapter 5  
  
"Hermione..."Tried Harry again, "Where have you been?"  
  
Again Hermione didn't reply. Harry put his hand on her shoulder. She jumped and turned to look at him once again. She seemed to come back to reality.  
  
"Where have I been? Nowhere. Why did you ask?" She said slowly.  
  
"Me and Ron...we've been sending you owls and everything...you haven't replied to any of them." Harry answered, with a very concerned look on his face.  
  
"It seemed pointless replying. I have better things to do. Let's go back to our carriage." She said again.  
  
At last, Draco seemed to find his voice. "And why would a mudblood like you want to be on this train? This train goes to Hogwarts, which is a place for proper wizards...unlike muggle-borns like you." He said sneeringly.  
  
Hermione didn't even turn back round. She laughed. A cold laugh. A laugh like this even made Crabbe and Goyle look at her in surprise. She carried on walking through the carriage; she didn't care....  
  
"Hermione..." They ran after her. Ginny seemed very hurt, Hermione had overlooked her, and she reluctantly followed them.  
  
"WHAT?" She shouted. "WHAT do you want?" Her face looked like thunder. Ron and Harry looked at each other. They could both see that they were on dangerous ground. They chose not to carry on.  
  
After a while, they were half way to school. Each one of them was staring blankly out of the window. Ginny suddenly ventured, " Hermione, what was the note about?" Harry and Ron each gave her a warning look.  
  
"The note? The note...what note?"  
  
"The one Crookshanks came with. He came to our house. The note asked for Harry and Rons help. What did you mean?" Ginny struggled.  
  
"Crookshanks? Oh...Crookshanks...oh yes, the cat...but I don't remember a note." Hermione looked around suspiciously.  
  
"Hermione, it said 'Harry, Ron; Help.' You can't fool us into thinking that you didn't even send a note. We know you did. We all saw it. I don't know if it was a joke or what...but it really scared us. Was it a trick? Because if it was, it really wasn't very funny at all. It scared us if you want the truth, we thought you were in some kind of danger." Ron said, but, like the note, trailed off at then end.  
  
She didn't answer straight away. Her lips were tight. She finally responded. "I would never ask for help, Ron Weasley...least of all from you..." 


	6. Ch6 Unforgiveable

Disclaimer: Um, you know the score. This isn't mine, and it's not yours (unless, perchance, you actually ARE JK Rowling...?) so enjoy anyway...  
  
Influenced Chapter 6- Unforgiveable...  
  
Ron, not suprisingly, was very hurt and angry by Hermione's response. He stood staring after her whilst Harry followed Hermione down the carriages. He had to run to keep up with her, and when he finally caught up he was panting. Harry wasn't going to try to be nice this time, he wanted to know what was wrong; he needed to find out.  
  
"Hermione, what the hell is wrong with you?!" He shouted in her ear. She stopped, and blinked, as if she was slightly stunned, but she did not say anything.  
  
"I don't know what is wrong with you, and you obviously aren't going to tell us, but you just really upset Ron..." He wasn't waiting for an answer, but he was expecting one. As soon as she started walking again, he grabbed her shoulder roughly.  
  
But this time she did not ignore it. She turned around and punched him so hard in the stomach that it winded him. Hermione was seething with anger. She grabbed her wand and pointed it right at Harry. Bending down right in his face, she whispered,  
  
"Don't you dare assume that there is anything wrong with me...if there was something wrong, like I said earlier, I wouldn't tell you. If you disagree with that fact, then..." She straightened up. "We can...chat...about it later." Hermione said this last remark with malice, as if she hated Harry, despised him. She then left, leaving him on the floor, confusing and shocked.  
  
Harry and Ron had not sat with Hermione during the sorting ceremony. She, in fact, had sat on her own, with empty seats either side of her. Dumbledore was sitting next to Snape at the head table. Both of them were in deep conversation with one another.  
  
Harry had told Ron about the train ride. They were still both puzzled at her behaviour. Ginny's eyes were all red, she had obviously been crying. She had heard about what had happened, and obviously she was there when Hermione had 'talked' to Ron. Ginny had kept away from her, from the advice of Ron and her own intuition.  
  
After the ceremony, Parvati Patil had approached Hermione. Watching carefully, Harry and Ron saw her turn around and shout at Parvati. Afterwards, they had asked Parvati what she had said. She replied that she had only asked if she could borrow Hermione's jumper, and that Hermione had completely 'lost it'.  
  
"What do we do, Harry? This isn't like Hermione at all..." Ron was speaking quietly.  
  
"I don't know. I don't think we should tell Dumbledore." Harry had known that this would have been Rons solution, but they were now in their fifth year, and he thought they were now old enough to handle this on their own. After all, he had been face-to-face with Voldemort before. What was a little friendship trouble compared to this?  
  
"I think we should make her talk, you know, come up to her in the hallway or something. We need to know."  
  
Harry thought for a moment, this was a good idea. It would make her tell them what was wrong, instead of them having to chase her.  
  
On Wednesday, after Potions, they followed her down the corridor, and blocked her way just as she was turning into the common room.  
  
"What do you want?" She said dangerously.  
  
"We want to know what the hell is wrong with you, that's what." Said Ron.  
  
What happened next, no one could have predicted. She stood totally upright, and raised her wand at both of them. She looked as if she was about to burst from anger. She yelled cruelly through her teeth.  
  
"Crucio."  
  
They fell to the floor with roars of pain. She had performed an Unforgivable Curse. Stepping back, she looked stunned at what she had done. She quickly ran past and into the common room.  
  
Do you like this chapter? I hope you do. Please review! SM 


	7. Ch7 No explanations?

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters. I don't even know why you even suspected I did, because I don't. As I say so many times, please enjoy...  
  
Influenced Chapter 7- No explanations?  
  
Harry woke up to see darkness. As usual, he couldn't see, as he wasn't wearing his glasses. He knew where he was though. He had been taken to the hospital wing. He fumbled for his glasses and found them beside him. As he sat up, he saw Ron beside him. Harry knew that it was very late at night, or very early in the morning. The last thing he remembered was yelling in the corridor with Hermione leaving, and Professor McGonagall had found them, bringing them straight to the hospital wing.  
  
He crept over to Ron's bed. He knew Professor McGonagall had wanted to question them, but Dumbledore had wanted to let them sleep. From the colour of the sky out of the window, Harry guessed that it might have been maybe four or five o'clock in the morning.  
  
Ron was still sleeping, although it looked like he had had an uneasy night. He had dark bags under his eyes. He didn't look like he was in a very deep sleep anyway, so Harry woke him up.  
  
"Ron...Ron..."He whispered.  
  
Ron groaning and rolled over in his bed, covering his face with the covers.  
  
"Ron!" Harry grabbed his shoulder and shook it roughly. Finally, this seemed to have some kind of effect.  
  
"What...?" Ron groaned. He slowly opened his eyes, and looked up at Harry. Then he seemed to remember the events of the previous day, and sat up rigidly.  
  
"Harry...what...?" He started. Harry sighed heavily and sat down onto the side of the bed.  
  
"I know. I first woke up thinking it was a dream, but then I realised it was real, too real..." Said Harry.  
  
Ron gave him a puzzled look. None of them seemed to understand. They talked about what had happened for what had seemed like hours, and finally there was a knock at the door. In came Albus Dumbledore.  
  
"Hello Harry. Hello Ron. How are you feeling today?" He quizzed, though he could clearly see from the boys tired expressions that they weren't feeling well at all.  
  
"Uh...fine, Professor," Replied Harry weakly. He glanced at Ron with a knowing look. They were expecting questions, and a lot of them.  
  
"I think you know what's coming..." Said Dumbledore. That was the thing with him, he always knew what you were thinking, even if you said something totally different.  
  
"Questions?" Harry and Ron said simultaneously.  
  
Dumbledore chuckled softly. "Yes, that's right. But you do know that I need to know about what happened yesterday. I need to know who did this. Harry?" He said expectantly.  
  
"Um..."Harry replied uneasily.  
  
Dumbledore glanced over his half moon glasses and switched his vision to Ron.  
  
"Uh..."Ron replied.  
  
Dumbledore sighed again. "Harry, Ron, it is important to let me know who did this. They can't get away with it. I need to decide which would be the correct course of action to take, and deal with them in the appropriate way. Whoever it was used an unforgivable curse, you know I cannot let that pass, don't you...?"  
  
Harry decided that whatever happened, Dumbledore would find out who it was. It would be better coming from him, and to tell Dumbledore that it wasn't like Hermione at all. There was something wrong with her.  
  
"Professor, this is kind of hard to explain, but it was...Hermione... who did this..." He stopped, and waited for Dumbledore's reaction. For one of the first times ever, Harry saw what Dumbledore looked like when he was truly surprised.  
  
"Miss Granger did this?" He said in a shocked sort of way.  
  
"Yeah," Said Ron. "But we don't think she was quite herself, if you get what I mean..." He added.  
  
"Tell me exactly what happened, when you first crossed Ms Grangers path."  
  
So Harry and Ron explained all about the train ride, her threatening Harry, right up to the point where the blocked her path in the corridor.  
  
"So you see Professor, this doesn't seem like Hermione at all. We understand that she used an Unforgivable spell, but..." Harry stopped. For some reason, something deep inside him was questioning why he was defending Hermione. He didn't like it, but he knew he shouldn't be sticking up for her. Dumbledore got up and briskly made his way towards the door.  
  
Before he left, Ron said, "Professor, what are you going to do?"  
  
Dumbledore gave him a saddened glance, and answered, "I don't know." And left the room.  
  
Ooh! Do you like this chapter? Its quite long, but cool! Please review! 


	8. Ch8 The truth hurts

Disclaimer: Man, I'm going to have to do this, for like, so many chapters to come. But anyway, I do not own it. Here we go again!  
  
Influenced Chapter 8-  
  
Later that day, Ron and Harry were still in the hospital wing. Dumbledore's response to Ron's question was worrying. Seldom had Harry or Ron seen him like this, without an answer. 'I don't know'...what did that mean? Dumbledore always knew what to say, at what time. He had always made Harry feel better, but for once he had made the situation, through Harry's eyes, worse, by giving an apprehensive answer.  
  
" 'I don't know'? What the hell does that mean?" Ron was thinking exactly the same thing as Harry.  
  
Harry didn't reply. Saying 'I don't know' would confuse things even further. He then said, "It means he doesn't know what he's going to do next. He's not sure what to do about Hermione. Neither am I for that matter."  
  
"Harry, I know it might sound like I don't care about Hermione anymore, because I do, but I don't think we should have stood up for Hermione that much when we were talking to Dumbledore. I know she might not have been herself, like we both agreed, but...it was an unforgivable spell...that's defying the laws of the Ministry of Magic. Anything can happen to her now, and it doesn't look like she's still in Dumbledore's good books either. Did you see his expression when we told him it was her...?" Ron explained.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I did. That's why I think we should find her. Not to be sympathetic, not to comfort her, more to confront her, whatever it takes, and tell her what she's got herself into." Said Harry, speaking to himself more than Ron.  
  
"Maybe, but the...the thing that keeps bothering me Harry, is that she could go to Azkaban for this. Azkaban. Hagrid went there and he can hardly talk about it." Ron said sadly.  
  
Just then, by utter coincidence, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Hagrid, came bursting through the door.  
  
"'Arry, Ron, you're alrigh'! I was worried. Dumbledore said that you was 'urt. What 'appened? Who used the Crucio curse?" He babbled.  
  
"Actually, um, Hagrid, it was, uh, Hermione." Ventured Ron.  
  
Hagrid looked extremely surprised. " 'Ermione?! Never! She'd never do anything like tha'!"  
  
"She would, Hagrid, and she has." Harry said quietly.  
  
"We don't think she's quite herself though..." Ron trailed off at the end after a warning glance from Harry. He'd already forgotten the 'no sticking up for Hermione' theory. "No. Never. 'Ermione would never do this! She's your friend!" Hagrid was now looking angry.  
  
" We know Hagrid." Said Ron nervously. Hagrid was never the best person to mess with, considering how large and strong he was...  
  
" 'ERMIONE WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A THING! SHE'S YOU FRIEND, NOT YOUR...RUDDY ENEMY!" He roared.  
  
At this point the door blew open. Dumbledore and McGonagall entered.  
  
"Hagrid, calm down, please! If you do not, please leave immediately." Said Dumbledore, smoothly, but harshly. Hagrid did not need telling twice. He turned around swiftly and slammed the door as he left.  
  
Dumbledore turning around and falsely smiled at Harry and Ron.  
  
"Harry, Ron, please can you tell Professor McGonagall what you told me. She needs to write down a report for Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. He and I are going to have a chat about what we are going to do about Ms Granger."  
  
After a long and tiring day of going over and over what happened, Harry and Ron decided that they were going to look for Hermione tomorrow, early in the morning, before anyone realised they were gone. 


End file.
